Air Canada Reduces First Quarter Capacity by 25 Percent, Cuts 1,700 Jobs

Air Canada is one of the biggest companies in Canada and in one of the industries hit hardest by COVID-19. The company says its capacity in the first quarter of 2021 will be about 20 percent of what it was in the first quarter of 2019. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

MONTREAL—Air Canada says it will cut 1,700 jobs as it scales down flights for the first quarter of 2021.

The 25 percent reduction in service will also affect 200 employees at Air Canada’s Express carriers, the company said Wednesday morning.